Episode 11
This is the eleventh and final episode of the Aincrad Arc, and the eleventh episode of Sword Art Online Abridged overall. Plot The episode opens with Asuna watching Kirito when he's sleeping, calling him a "sexy little baby", when suddenly she gets a message from Heathcliff telling her it's time to fight the Boss of Floor 75. Annoyed, she wakes Kirito up, only to find that he heard everything she was saying about him, much to her embarrassment. With the end of their honeymoon on the horizon, Kirito and Asuna decide to spend the last few moments enjoying the scenery. But this is ruined when they see a man fishing with his pants off, causing Kirito to declare that their honeymoon is over. The man then pleasures himself with a fish. In the Floor 75 dungeon, Heathcliff is trying to rally the players with a motivational speech, but gets annoyed when they don't understand his metaphor. Heathcliff is explaining how he managed to broker a peace treaty with the bandits, after rounds of torture, gladiatorial combat and Pictionary (oddly enough), when suddenly he hears the King of Ashes ordering his men to kill the intruders. Heathcliff is confused at first, but realizes that Kirito did something. Kirito claims that it has nothing to do with him, but the King is heard demanding Kirito's head. With the King's troops coming to kill them Heathcliff decides that they're going to enter the Boss Room. Klein and Tiffany are heard discussing a quest the two of them went on in Floor 17, which resulted in Tiffany getting an axe. Kirito questions why he doesn't remember the quest, to which Klein says that they have lives outside of Kirito, which Kirito doesn't believe. With the door finally opened, Heathcliff leads the player into the Boos Room, but they become confused when the Boss is nowhere to be seen. After a few seconds of players believing the boss was a metaphor, Klein notices a giant centipede made of bones hanging from the ceiling. With the players finally noticing, the Boss, called the "Skull Reaper", descends from the ceiling and kills two of of the players, who were the raiders tanks. Despite this, Heathcliff tries to rally the players to fight, but is caught of guard when the Boss suddenly dies. Despite Heathcliff's confusion, the other players see this as a victory, but soon become depressed when they realize that the door to the next Floor is still closed. Leaving them trapped in the Room. As the players start to fall into despair, Heathcliff tries to lighten the mood, saying, although they're going to die, at least they're going to die playing an awesome game. This comment causes the players to rant about the many faults with the game, with Schmitt and Klein pointing out that the Teleport Crystals, one of their only lifelines, do nothing half the time if they're lucky, pointing out a player who tried to teleport out and glitched into a horrifying monstrosity. Heathcliff gradually gets more and more annoyed by this, saying that while the game has some "minor bugs" the game itself is some ground breaking technology, asking where the players sense of wonder is. Kirito agrees with Heathcliff, saying that he loves the game despite its faults, but also admits that the game is a mess filled with terrible designs, stating that the only reason they bought was it was the only launch title that made Tron real. This comment annoys Heathcliff the most, as now Kirito has suddenly seen Tron. This causes Kirito to realize something and he attacks Heathcliff, causing a protective wall to appear around him. Confused by this Asuna asked what it was. Heathcliff tries to play it off as a lucky glitch, but Asuna doesn't believe him. All the other players are confused, and Kirito explains that Heathcliff has been hiding a dark secret. He is Kayaba Akihiko. But the players don't know who that is, much to Kirito's annoyance. Kayaba plays then plays the Scanners clip, making them realize who he is. Relieved that he kept the clip tabbed, Kayaba asks what made Kirito realize who he was. Kirito explain that he realized that Heathcliff was the only other person who referenced as many movies as he did. This makes Kayaba ecstatic, as it is the first time in years, possibly in his entire life, that anyone has understood him. Kayaba then that, even though he doesn't particularly like Kirito, he belives the two of them have a "kinship" and that he respects him as a player. Suddenly, one of the players tries to attack Kayaba, causing Kayaba to paralyze him. Kayaba mocks the player for trying to attack, despite the fact that Kirito showed it was clearly impossible, and decides to prevent any more such stupidity by paralyzing all of the players except for Kirito. Kayaba then goes on to mock all of the players, claiming them to be stupid and ignorant idiots. However, to his surprise, Kirito starts defending the players, something uncharacteristic of him. Kirito then mocks Kayaba, calling him more cowardly than the other players, as they at least were ready to put their lives on the line. Despite this, Kayaba attempts to leave, claiming that he will fix the door eventually, but he might watch a movie first. But Kirito continues to mock him, which causes Kayaba to question what Kirito wants. Kirito then tells that he would like a rematch. Kirito challenges Kayaba to a second duel, where Kayaba won't use his GM abilities, and if Kirito wins Kayaba will release everyone. Hearing this, Kayaba is a little shocked that Kirito would like to just cut things short Twenty Five Floors, but he still agrees after Kirito quotes Back to the Future, believing that he will easily defeat Kirito. Asuna questions why Kirito wants to leave, as he loves it in the game. Kirito explains that while he does love it in the game, as he can be the person he always wanted to be in it, he feels like the longer that he stays there the greater the risk that he'll loose the people he loves. This makes Klein overjoyed, as Kirito has taken his advice to not give up on humanity. Kirito that is worried that Asuna will mock him for showing these emotions, but she supports him for making such a huge step. She then tries to get everyone to give Kirito a big round of applause, but forgets that she's paralyzed. Kirito then goes to fight Kayaba, but stops to tell Tiffany to tell Lizbeth that he didn't name the sword she made him "The Piece of Shit", but Tiffany doesn't understand the message to to how vaguely he worded it. He then apologizes to Klein for not joining his guild, saying he's always regretted it and it probably would have been fun, causing Klein to devolve into a gibbering mess. Kirito then adds another condition to their fight, that Kayaba will make sure Asuna doesn't kill herself if she dies. Asuna is insulted by the insinuation that she'd kill herself over Kirito, telling him to suck a dick, but Kirito corrects her, saying that's her job now. After saying his farewells to his friends, Kirito draws his blades, as the battle then starts. Kayaba and Kirito then clash, exchanging attacks. Despite being initially equal, the sword Lizbeth made Kirito eventually breaks, leaving him open to Kayaba's attack. However, Asuna jumps in the way, sacrificing herself. Depressed by Asuna's death, Kirito loses his resolve to fight, to Kayaba's disappointment. Kayaba then stabs Kirito through his chest, sealing his fate and holding Kirito in contempt as Kayaba "was the God of this world." However, Kirito doesn't fade away, but manages to stab Kayaba himself, technically beating him, "rejecting his reality and substituting it for his own." Kayaba, thinking this is a reference to The Dungeonmaster is thrilled and accepting of his loss until Kirito points out it was a line from MythBusters and has never heard of The Dungeonmaster, making Kayaba disappointed and the both of them shatter. Kirito then wakes up in a cloud filled area. He thinks he's in heaven, but finds that he's still in the game when he ca open his menu and sees a loading screen, likening it to "the other place". Kirito then finds out that Asuna is there too and the two kiss. Kirito asks where they are and Asuna points out that the Castle of Aincrad is collapsing into a black hole bellow them, seeing their house get destroyed in the process. Kirito voices his disappointment, which Kayaba agrees with, suddenly appearing out of nowhere in his real form. Kirito asks what's happening and Kayaba explains that he's keeping his end of the bargain, wiping the game from the server and logging everyone out. But when Kirito asks if it's in that order Kayaba just looks at the collapsing castle and is unable to answer. Despite the fact that he just murdered her, Asuna asks if Kayaba is okay, as he seems a bit "off". Kayaba says that he's watching his hopes and dreams crumble in front of him, thinking about how his business is ruined and how he's most like the most wanted man on the planet, but what could he be upset about? Kirito tries to cheer him up by saying "everyone wants to feel wanted". Kayaba says he's going to miss chatting with Kirito, and he doesn't know what that says about him. Kayaba then reluctantly congratulates Kirito for thwarting his plans, which prompts Kirito to ask what his plan was, as it was the only thing he was unable to figure out. Kayaba then says he doesn't even remember anymore. But when Kirito asks if he's serious Kayaba bursts out laughing over how unsatisfying an answer that would be. He then says he did it for Metacritic, which confuses Kirito and Asuna. Kayaba explains that during its development the game was not properly ready by the time of the first launch date and so Kayaba required two extensions, but even by then the game was not ready. Unable to get anymore extensions from Bethesda, the game's publisher, Kayaba spent the remaining three weeks he had developing Sword Art Online so as to release the game on schedule. Unfortunately this required him to focus entirely on developing and not stop for anything, including sleep, causing him to hallucinate, mistaking the night janitor for God at one point, and lose focus on his programming. This resulted in him being unable to see he created a few glitches, one of which resulted the NerveGear killing the players them when their avatars die in game. By the time Kayaba noticed these glitches the game had already been released and multiple players had already died, partially due to the tutorial NPC vanishing early on. Kayaba admits he would have turned off the server before there were anymore casualties, but at the time he was still so unstable from sleep deprivation that he believed the government was controlled by "Flubar, King of the Mole-Men", and in his delirious state his immediate response was to "double, triple, and quadruple down" and locked everyone in the game and pretended it was part of his master plan, because he thought a game that killed a few people by accident would be bashed more by critics than a game that killed thousands on purpose. When asked why he became Heathcliff he explains it was because 2,000 players had already died after the first month before even cleared the First Floor, and he keep the players from getting hurt while also using them as hostages to keep the FBI from arresting him until he found a solution to his problems, which he never did. Hearing Kayaba's tale, Asuna actually proposes that he should have just blamed the whole incident on a hacker group pretending to be him, which Kayaba recognizes as a better idea and wishes that he thought of it two years ago. Kayaba then decides to leave in order to vent his frustrations by screaming into the black hole that is consuming the castle. He then says that, while it wasn't nice meeting the two, Kirito and Asuna are "the dictionary definition of lesser of two evils" and goes to leave. As Kayaba is leaving, Kirito notes how he wasn't a scheming mastermind, but just a fuck-up like everyone else. Before he leaves he makes sure that Kirito had indeed not seen the movie he accidentally quoted by using its alternate title. Once he confirmed that he had indeed not seen the movie Kayaba then leaves the game believing he really is alone in the world. With the castle finally collapsing, Kirito asks Asuna what her name is. Asuna is confused as her name is Asuna, "Asuna Yuuki". Kirito thinks that her using her real name is weird, which makes Asuna ask what Kirito's name is if it's not Kirito. Kirito says that it's "Kazuto Kirigaya", which Asuna thinks is a terrible name, and vows to keep calling him Kirito from now on. Kirito says that's fair enough, as they probably don't have that long to live anyway, as Kayaba was vague on whether they are going to survive the system wipe. Believing it to be their final moments together Asuna tries to tell Kirito something but is cut off when Kirito starts crying. He states that he doesn't want things to be over, as he wanted to meet up in the real world, bring Yui back and go walk in the park like a family does. Asuna points out it would have never worked as Yui is an A.I., but Kirito says he'll build her a robot body and they'll take that to the park. The two start crying over the whole situation and hug each other. Just before the game is finally deleted Kirito says that he loves Asuna, to which she responds "I know" before their avatars are erased. Moments later, Kazuto wakes up in a hospital. Although he is weak, his resolve for finding Asuna makes him leave the bed. But this causes him to rip his catheter out in the process, majorly injuring himself. The credits then role in the style of an arcade machine, which then culminates in continue screen. A quarter is then heard being put in. Cast * xbubblemunkyx: Asuna Yuuki/Asuna * YamatoSFX: Kazuto Kirigaya/Kirito * Coffinjockey: Nishida the Fish Fucker, Soldier, Cronenberg's Friend * Takahata101: Kayaba Akihiko/Heathcliff * GaoGaiKingTheGreatVA: Soldier, Cronenberg * FrozenFrost: Soldier * MrBuddyVA: The King of Ashes * SpriteStuff: King of Ashes Minion, Soldier * Dizzasta: Klein * Octopimp: Tiffany * KaggyVA: Schmitt * BlazingAzureCrow: Soldier * CharlestonVO: Soldier * Earl of Bassington: Soldier * ErehcVA: Soldier * LeRoygendary: Soldier Music * Thirty Seconds to Mars: "This Is War" * Xenoblade Chronicles OST: "Tension", "Hope", "Intrigue", "Thoughts to a Friend", * Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- OST: "Coming Home" * Busou Renkin OST: "Tatakau Ketsui", "Renkinjutsushi", "Semaru Kiki", * Your Lie in April: "Kouiu Kimochi wo Nante Itta Kana", "Kaasan to no Omoide" * Sword Art Online OST: "A Strategy Meeting" * Bloodborne: "Blood Starved Beast" * Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST: "Crime and Punishment", "Home ~en route to Resembool~" * Bravely Default OST: "Tense Moment" Differences from the Original The following is a list of differences only from this episode. To view any differences for the characters view their page, or if you want to see more click here. *The scene where Asuna watches Kirito in his sleep is altered, instead of making suggestive comments she comments on how innocent he looks and then wonders if he's younger than him. This doesn't deter her for long, as she then hugs him and says she wants them to be together forever, which wakes him up, much to her shock. **This scene was also moved from before they met Yui to after. **Heathcliff does not send the message to Asuna in this scene, he sends it to Kirito later. **Kirito also hears what Asuna said in this version while in the original he doesn't and she tries to cover it up out of embarrassment. *Kirito doesn't say that their Honeymoon was a nice one despite the fact their "daughter" "died right in front of them, thinking she was alone and unloved". *The scene where Kirito fishes and the entire mini arc with Nishida takes place in the original, but is cut in the abridgement. *Nishida is never implied to have have sex with fish. *A scene where Heathcliff sets up the next Boss, followed by a scene where Asuna says she'll kill herself if Kirito dies, is skipped. *Heathcliff doesn't have trouble using metaphors to rally the players. *Klein and Agil aren't implied to go on adventures together without Kirito. *The Skull Reaper doesn't glitch out and die on its own. Nor does the door to the next Floor fail to open. *Heathcliff doesn't get mad when every starts pointing out the games flaws. The flaws in the game are either ignored in the original or added on to in this version. *Due to the fact that Heathcliff never makes any references to movies, Kirito doesn't figure out that Heathcliff is Kayaba that way. Instead he comes to the conclusion because noticed that he was the only player whose health wasn't in the yellow, which makes him realize that his health never goes into the yellow because the system is protecting him. This is supported by the fact he was faster than he was during their fight, as Kirito is the fastest player in the game, and no one could POSSIBLY be faster than him. **Heathcliff doesn't try and convince everyone that the system's protective wall was a lucky glitch that saved him from Kirito's assassination attempt. He just kinda excepts that he's been exposed in the original. *Kayaba doesn't start ranting about the other players idiocy after being exposed nor does Kirito defend them. *Kayaba doesn't kill anyone for "mildly sassing" him after being exposed in the original. *Kirito doesn't impersonate Eric Cartman while taunting Kayaba's childish antics or compare him to a crying baby. *Kayaba was the one who initiated the rematch in the original as a "reward" for finding him out, rather than Kirito wanting a rematch to end the game for everyone else's sake. **Meaning Kirito doesn't goad on Kayaba by quoting Back to the Future, nor does Kayaba yell at Asuna for saying the movie doesn't sound like a good one. *Asuna doesn't tell Kirito to "cry your little bitch tears" upon her "death". *Kayaba doesn't question how Asuna broke out of his admin paralysis through the "power of love". *The reason for Kayaba starting the death game didn't involve him being sleep deprived or the game being extremely glitchy due to him rushing it out, nor does he make a joke about forgetting his motivation. He actually forgot his motivation in the original... *SAO is never stated or implied to be published by Bethesda or any other American company. *Kayaba doesn't say he feels such a deep connection with Kirito, nor does he try one last time to feel it again before he disappears. *Kirito isn't shocked by Asuna's baffling choice to use her real name in the game. *Asuna doesn't think that "Kirito" is his real name nor does she say that his real one is a terrible name. *Kirito doesn't say "I love you" to Asuna in the original; she said it to him and he neglected to say it back. **Nor does Asuna quote Han Solo back at him. *Kazuto doesn't rip his catheter out when he wakes up, nor is it explicitly stated that he had one. Trivia *This is adapted from Episode 11, 13 and 14 of the original. *The name of the night Janitor that Kayaba mistook for God was "Reki", this is in reference to the series creator Reki Kawahara. References Navigation Category:Aincrad Arc Episodes Category:A to Z